At a Point in Time
by Tella
Summary: A collection of short stories that focuses on the different characters at a point in time of their lives.
1. Nymphadora Tonks

At a Point in Time

**At a Point in Time**

**Summary:** A collection of short stories that focuses on the different characters at a point in time of their lives.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all its relevant characters are the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling published by Bloomsbury (London).

**Nymphadora Tonks **

Tonks bit her lip as she read through the question again and again. She had been at it for nearly two hours, and now when she was so close to the end, it seemed that her homework would refuse to give her up and let her go and have a good time downstairs. She let out a frustrated sigh when the laughter from downstairs drifted up into her room.

"Merlin, help me!" She groaned and let her head fall on the table. Her eyes narrowed at her Transfiguration book, _Transfiguration Through the Ages, A New Perspective_. She honestly could not see anything new about Transfiguration. It had been the same mumble jumble for hundreds of years. Only now, it was here to torture her.

Tonks wanted to be downstairs with her parents and their friends. She wanted to laugh with them and listen to their exciting stories. Some of them were working for the ministry after all, and they always had the best stories to tell about hexes going haywire and muggles stumbling upon things they should not even have been able to see. But most of all, she wanted to see him.

She lifted an eyebrow as her hair slowly fell down in front of her eyes. The bright pink she had come to love and her mother loathed, very evident against the brown dull textbook.

She wanted to see him. She wanted to hear his laugh and see his smile. She loved it when he smiled at her, and he smiled at her often. His smile was warm and caring, although a little weatherworn. She knew why his smile was so shy and slightly beaten, and she loved it.

Tonks bit her lip once more.

"It can't be that bad, now can it?" Tonks jumped at the familiar voice and sat bolt up. His kind eyes smiled along with his face at her.

"Yes it can." She groaned and let her head fall onto the table once more.

"Let me have a look then." She watched him conjure up a chair before sitting down next to her. She handed him the parchment with the set questions and her textbook.

"The last question."

"Ah, I see Professor McGonagall has been her usual self."

"The Wicked Witch of the West, you mean." His light-hearted laughter filled her ears and slowly drifted through her body into her bloodstream; straight to her heart. She could suddenly feel her heart rate increase rapidly. She didn't know why he had this effect on her, but she didn't mind it at all. It was a feeling she had come to recognise and cherish, it was a feeling only he could manage to conjure up in her. It was a feeling she would never be able to tell him about.

"Ah! This is rather simple actually, you just have to read it the right way."

"What? How can it be simple? I've been through it five times!"

His laughter filled her once more and she had to keep herself from taking a deep breath and letting it out in a contented sigh. "See here…" He pointed to the question in the textbook. "She doesn't want you to refer to it directly. She wants you to look into it, to see beyond what is there. Transfiguration is not about just changing the appearance of the object or subject, it is also about what is changing inside of it."

"Huh?"

"Look at it this way. If you were to colour your hair blue right now, would I still be talking to Nymphadora or would I be talking to someone else?" Tonks had to bite her tongue to not lash out at him for using her hated name. She frowned up at his steady smile.

"I would still be me."

"Exactly, because your outside changed but not your inside. But with Transfiguration you can't only change the outside, you need to change it inside too."

"Oh… Oh! I get it."

"Good." She watched him stand up. His tall frame towered over her as she sat in her chair. She had always known he was tall. He was tall, fair, and so beautiful… She bit her lip, wondering if she would be allowed to ask him the question that suddenly popped into her mind.

"Remus…" He paused at her door and his eyes watched her expectantly. Inside, her mind screamed at her. Ask him, don't ask him… She could not decide. Should she ask him about his 'condition'? Should she tell him that she… That for the past three years… Should she tell him that she liked him? That she liked him more than just a friend?

She didn't know how long he stood watching her, how he watched every bottled emotion cross her face for a brief moment before disappearing. Then, her face turned back to the normal controlled expression he had come to expect from her. "Thank you."

Remus Lupin smiled at her before drifting out of the room towards the stairs. "It's my pleasure, love."


	2. Petunia Dursley

At a Point in Time

**Petunia Dursley **

Petunia silently sat watching the smiling faces all around her. Everyone was excited as they should be on such an occasion. She felt out of place sitting on one side as she watched people filter in and take their seats. She felt alone and forgotten, and at the same time she felt grateful that she could be there.

The number of redheads astounded her, even more so than the house she had to face when she first arrived. The house was, however, explained when she realised that they were all family. Five red heads with young faces; one horribly scared, walked around between everyone greeting them and making polite conversation. Siblings, she gathered from the pieces of conversation she managed to hear.

Two of the siblings were missing, one of which she did not know what had happened to. There was a boy though, tall and mischievous looking, who kept talking about 'dear old Fred' and what they would have done to make the occasion more memorable if he had been there. The other missing sibling she gathered to be the bride, Harry's bride.

Petunia wondered how this Molly woman was able to raise six boys and a little girl. It was obvious they didn't have much. It was obvious that she was a very capable woman. It was obvious that she, like Petunia's sister, was twice the woman Petunia could ever hope to be.

She watched as the last of the guests took their seats, one of which was the beastly large man whom she recognised as Hagrid. He had given Dudley that pig's tail which had cost them enormous amounts of money and a lot of lies to get rid of. He had a large handkerchief and big drops of tears were streaming down his busy beard. She could hear him talking about ''Arry' and how he had grown.

She turned to watch the groom, Harry, and one of the red headed boys stand at the floral altar. Harry had indeed grown. She had not seen him since his seventeenth birthday. It seemed more than a number of years ago, it seemed a lifetime ago to Petunia. He had a little boy with vibrant blue hair in his arms and she could not help but wonder who the little boy belonged to.

The music started to play and Harry handed the little boy over to Molly. Petunia turned to watch along with the other guests as two girls strolled down the isle. One had brown hair and a clever look about her, and the other was a light hearted blonde with a strange smile on her face. Both were beautiful in her eyes.

Next came the bride with a fat, bald red-headed man. Her eyes were fixed on the bride, a gorgeous girl with fiery red hair and a soft pretty face. "Lily…" She found herself whispering.

And suddenly, as she watched the father hand over his daughter to her groom, she wished her sister could be there with her. She wished that all those years ago, she made peace with her sister and that she treated the boy, no, man, up in front a little better.

Was all the suffering she put him through as a boy really worth her guilt and spite towards her sister? Now, it did not seem that way since back then, she felt differently.

Back then, she did not have to bury all of her family, including her husband. Vernon would have had a heart attack all over again if he were to know that she had come to Harry's wedding. He would have forbid her to come. Like he forbid her to care for baby Harry, then toddler Harry, then little boy Harry and later teenage Harry. Like he forbid her to give him gifts, or to send him a card for Christmas. She still had them though. She still had all the Christmas and birthday cards safely stored away in the cupboard beneath the stairs.

Next to her Dudley shifted uncomfortably. She followed his gaze and found that he was staring at the beautiful blonde bridesmaid. Her tongue automatically formed a chiding remark, but she bit her lip to keep it from slipping out.

The ceremony ended and she watched with the other guests as Mr and Mrs Harry Potter strolled up the aisle together, hand-in-hand and laughing like the young couple they were. Slowly, she and Dudley rose from their seats and followed the newlyweds. Petunia clutched the little box in her hands as she moved ever closer to Harry.

"Harry." Her voice felt feeble and strained.

"Aunt Petunia? Dudley! I didn't think you would come."

"Congratulations, Harry." Petunia watched as the boys shook hands, as they did when Harry left the house for the final time so many years ago.

"Thanks, Dudley."

Petunia swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "Harry, I have something I would like to give you and…"

"Ginny."

"Yes, Ginny." She handed her the little box. "Your… your mother, Harry, gave me this on my wedding day. I would like you to have it. She said something about a lucky spell, I'm not sure. I am afraid I did not pay much attention at the time…" Petunia watched anxiously as Ginny opened the box and pulled out a locket.

"Oh Mrs Dursley, I cannot accept this."

"Yes, please take it. I don't think I can bear…" Her voice slowly cracked and she had to clear her throat. She smiled up at Dudley as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Please take it. You know what it means and I am afraid I have neglected it all these years until up to quite recently."

"Thank you."

"Harry, Dudley and I agreed that you should have this." From her purse Petunia pulled out an old pocket watch and placed it in Harry's hands. "It belonged to your Grandfather Evans. We want you to have a part of us with you, if you don't mind."

"Thank you… Aunt Petunia, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Startled at the sudden invitation, she looked around at all the smiling faces. People were laughing and talking. They all knew each other. They all knew Harry far better than she would ever know him even though she had raised him for ten years of his life. When she turned to look at him, he once again had the little boy with blue hair in his arms.

"No thank you, Harry. We should be heading home."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Enjoy the festivities."

"Goodbye mate."

"Bye Dudley."

As she and Dudley walked away to their car, it once again became obvious to Petunia. It was obvious, like so many times before, that she was the one who never truly belonged anywhere.


	3. Dudley Dursley

At a Point in Time

**At a Point in Time**

**Dudley Dursley **

Harry was talking in his sleep again, twisting and turning in his bed as he did so. Dudley could hear the bed creaking under his weight, and he could hear Harry's muffled voice through the thin walls. As Dudley lay awake in his own bed listening to his cousin reliving his nightmares, he wondered what had happened to Harry that was so awful.

It had been like this for years now. First, it was the same dream over and over; he recognised the tone of Harry's voice. He would call out for his mom and dad; and he would beg for them not to be killed. Whenever Dudley went to check on him, he would have to face a sight of Harry curled up into a small ball, clutching his duvet and crying in his sleep.

Then the dreams changed. New names started to enter the dreams. Voldemort became a name he heard often, and it was either met with a tone of disgust and hate or with a tone of the utmost fear. Dudley hated it when Harry sounded scared, it made him feel scared too. Harry never got scared.

The next year the nightmares got worse, they came about almost every night. He would listen to Harry begging someone not kill Cedric. He would listen at the dead of night as Harry cried out in his sleep, begging anybody to help Cedric. That was when Dudley knew that Harry was special.

During the day Harry would appear normal. Harry would go about his own business and do whatever Dudley's parents asked of him. He did not try to scare anyone with any of his magic business and he hardly spoke. He had always been a quite boy, but the new level of silence became almost surreal. At night, Harry would blurt out his secrets to the world without even realising it; during the day he would stay in his room and stare out of the window.

Then a new name was added to the nightmares. It was a name that was spoken with as much love and heartache as Harry's parents. It was a name that often got jumbled in between his out cries of 'mom' and 'dad'. It is a name that Dudley had seen on the news and Harry had talked about with his uncle, Sirius Black. The escaped convict was from Harry's world, Harry's life, and part of Harry's love. Dudley knew from the way Harry would cry afterwards that it was another person Harry had lost and all he was left with now was the name.

Every time a new name came up, Dudley would listen. He would listen to what Harry had to tell. And every time Dudley added another story to Harry's life, he became more and more scared for his cousin.

But sometimes, his dreams would change and new names and old ones would pop up. Dudley started to recognise several, three in particular. One was a boy's name, Ron. Dudley knew who this was, it was the little boy with bright red hair who had fallen through their chimney at one stage.

Then, there was a name Dudley knew would follow every time after Ron's: Hermione. Dudley knew that she was a witch, a clever and pretty one at that. He had seen her talking to Harry at the train station. He had seen her with her parents. They were normal like him, and they looked odd amongst all of the witches and wizards on the train station, but they would welcome her with open arms and love.

Ron and Hermione, Dudley knew, were Harry's best friends. His family.

Then another name cropped up. It was a name that Dudley was always pleased to hear when Harry mumbled it. It was a name he knew that would calm down his cousin and ensure that he did not have a night of nightmares and horrors. It was a name he knew that would keep Harry from waking in cold sweat and send him to the bathroom to wash his face in the middle of the night.

The name was Ginny. Ginny was always spoken with love, compassion, calm and complete admiration. Dudley was always pleased to hear this name.

Harry was talking in his sleep again, twisting and turning in his bed as he did so. Dudley could hear the bed creaking under his weight, and he could hear his muffled voice through the thin walls. Dudley was awake in his own bed listening to his cousin reliving his nightmares, and he knew tonight that his cousin would have no peace.

Harry was dreaming about his parents again…

**AN: Thank you so much to my wonderful beta, Luna. You are an angel! **


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